Posted on by jwlozano

Faithful in the Little Things

This morning I was reading Luke 16, the parable of the shrewd manager. The story begins with a manager who is about to lose his job because he has been wasting his master’s resources. Knowing his time is running out, he takes action and begins settling accounts.

As Jesus explains the lesson, He makes a powerful statement:

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” (Luke 16:10)

For years, this has been something God has continually brought back to my attention.

Many of us have big dreams. We feel God has placed desires in our hearts, ministries we want to build, people we want to impact, opportunities we hope will come. But often, while we’re waiting, we spend more time complaining about what we don’t have than being faithful with what we do have.

Why would God trust us to speak to thousands if we aren’t preparing well to speak to twenty?

Why would He increase our income if we’re not managing the money we already have?

Why would He expand our influence if we’re not stewarding the opportunities right in front of us?

The truth is that preparation happens long before promotion.

Faithfulness looks like showing up to work on time. It looks like handling our responsibilities with integrity. It looks like being honest with our time, our finances, our relationships, and our commitments. It looks like serving wholeheartedly, even when nobody notices.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about this with my blog and with women’s ministry. Neither one is reaching the world right now, and that’s okay. My responsibility isn’t to make them bigger. My responsibility is to be faithful with what God has already placed in my hands.

God doesn’t ask us to be successful by the world’s standards. He asks us to be faithful.

So today, instead of focusing on what you wish you had, take inventory of what God has already entrusted to you. Are you stewarding it well?

Because often the little things we’re tempted to overlook are the very things God uses to prepare us for what’s next.

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Directed, Not Distracted

I was reading this morning in the book of Mark, chapter 1, verses 35 through 39. This is toward the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.

It says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed, ‘Everyone is looking for you!’ Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.’ So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.”

Jesus went off to be by Himself to pray, as He often did. The disciples found Him and said, “Everyone is looking for you.” There were expectations. People needed Him. People wanted Him. There were things to do.

But before He responded to people, He met with God.

The disciples had expectations of what Jesus should be doing and how He should be moving. But Jesus didn’t let the expectations of others determine His direction. He got His instructions from the Father first.

And because of that, when they came to Him, He already had clarity. He told them they needed to move on. That wasn’t random. That came from time spent with God.

For me, this is why having a morning routine with the Lord is so important.

And when I say morning routine, I’m not talking about skincare, workouts, or getting everything ready for the day. I’m talking about time with Jesus.

As believers, our lives should be in line with the Word of God. Ephesians 5:1 says to be imitators of God. That means we follow the example of Jesus.And Jesus got up early. He spent time with His Father. He received instructions for the day.

But a lot of times, we wake up and immediately start receiving instructions from everyone else.

We check our phones. We look at our schedules. We think about what we need to do, who needs us, what’s expected of us.

And before we know it, our day is already being directed by everything and everyone around us.

But what if we stopped first?

What if we took time to ask God, “What do You want me to do today?”

Because the truth is, I don’t know what I need for the day.

But He does.

No matter how busy the day is, I make time for this every morning. Because I don’t want to move based on pressure, expectations, or habit.

I want to move based on His instruction.

Posted on by jwlozano

Don’t Let the Crowd Silence You

I was reading in Matthew 20 about the two blind men sitting on the side of the road as Jesus was passing by.

They couldn’t see Him, but they heard that He was coming. And they knew, this is my moment. This is my chance. This is the One who can actually help me.

So they started crying out, “Lord, have mercy on us.”

And the crowd immediately tried to shut them down.

Be quiet. Stop yelling. Don’t bother Him.

But I love what the Bible says next. It says they only shouted louder.

They didn’t let the crowd silence them. They didn’t let the opinions around them quiet their need. They knew what they needed, and they knew who could meet that need.

And then it says something powerful.

When Jesus heard them, He stopped.

When they cried out, Jesus stopped.

Sometimes we can feel like we’re in such a great need, and nobody around us can help. No solution, no person, no resource can fix what we’re dealing with. That’s where these men were. The crowd couldn’t help them. The people around them couldn’t change their situation.

Only Jesus could.

And when He calls them over, He asks a simple but deep question:

“What do you want Me to do for you?”

I think about that sometimes. If Jesus asked me that today, what would I say? What would you say?

It’s easy to throw out surface-level answers, but when you really stop and think about it, what is the real need?

These men didn’t hesitate.

“Lord, we want to see.”

They knew exactly what they needed from Him.

And Jesus, full of compassion, touched their eyes, and instantly they could see.

But what stands out to me most in this story is not just the miracle, it’s their persistence.

They refused to be silenced.

There are times in life where it’s appropriate to be quiet. But there are also moments where you cannot afford to stay silent. Moments where you have to go against the noise, against the pressure, even against what people around you are saying, and cry out to Jesus anyway.

Because the crowd isn’t your answer.

The crowd can’t heal you.

The crowd doesn’t carry what Jesus carries.

So don’t let the crowd silence you.

If you’re in a place of need, cry out to Him.

If you’re desperate, cry out louder.

If everything around you is telling you to be quiet, that may be the very moment you need to speak up.

Because when you cry out to Jesus, He hears you.

And He still stops.

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A Different Kind of Clean

I was reading Matthew 23, where Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders, the Pharisees and others who were interpreting the law of Moses. He doesn’t hold back. He calls out how everything they do is for show, how they elevate themselves above others, and then He reminds them of what really matters.

“The greatest among you must be a servant.” (Matthew 23:11)

“Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12)

He goes on to say that while they are careful to follow the law, they are neglecting what matters most: “justice, mercy, and faith.” (Matthew 23:23)

But what really stood out to me was this:

“You are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy, full of greed and self-indulgence… First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean too.”

Matthew 23:25–26

“Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:28)

As I read this, it made me think about something very practical. I am in a season of spring cleaning right now, going room by room, getting rid of things that no longer serve us, donating what I can, throwing things away, and reorganizing what’s left.

And it hit me, how easy it is to do that in our homes, but not in our hearts.

It is easy to let things build up inside. Pride, greed, bitterness. Just like clutter in a room, those things do not just disappear. They sit there until we deal with them.

So while I am spring cleaning my home, I am also asking God to help me spring clean my heart.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart… See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23–24)

We live in a culture that puts so much emphasis on the outside. Looking put together. Wearing the right things. Presenting ourselves well. And while those things are not wrong, they can easily become the focus.

But God looks deeper.

“People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

And the truth is, when we look honestly at our hearts, we need Him.

“The heart is deceitful above all things.” (Jeremiah 17:9)

“All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6)

We cannot clean our hearts on our own. Real cleansing only comes through Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

So this has become my prayer in this season: that I would not just focus on the outside, but that I would take time to sit before God with an open heart, willing to receive His correction and His refining.

To let Him deal with what is inside first.

Because when He cleans the inside, the outside follows.

Posted on by jwlozano

Make it Enough

There’s a popular movie from the 90s, the best decade ever, with a scene where the main character’s mom sends him to the store. He looks at the money she gave him and complains that it isn’t enough for what she asked him to buy. She looks at him and simply says, “Make it enough.”

Have you ever felt like what you have just isn’t enough?

I was reading in Matthew 14:13 about when Jesus feeds the five thousand, and it led me to a simple but honest question.

I am not even talking about finances necessarily. Maybe you feel like you do not have enough time in the day to do the things you would like to do. Maybe you feel like you do not have enough energy to do the things you need to do. Or maybe you feel like you do not have the capacity to serve the way you want to serve. You are doing the best you can, you are doing what you can, but it still feels like it is not enough.

As I was reading this story, it really encouraged me. There were large crowds that had come out to see Jesus, and they were hungry. The disciples even encouraged Jesus to send the people away so they could go into the villages and find food for themselves. But Jesus responded in Matthew 14:16, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

This story is told in all four Gospels. In one account, a disciple finds a little boy with a small lunch. In Matthew, when Jesus tells them to feed the people, they respond in Matthew 14:17, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

They were stating a fact. What they had was not enough.

And that is often where we stop. We see the facts, and we feel defeated.

But Jesus did not stop at the facts. He gave them instructions.

First, He said to bring what they had to Him. When we feel like we do not have enough, what we do have needs to be placed in Jesus’ hands. I think about waking up in the morning and saying, “Lord, I have things I want to do today. Maybe I did not sleep well, maybe I feel tired, but I give this day to You.”

Then Jesus had the people sit down on the grass. He created order. He made a plan.

If you feel like you do not have enough, that may be true, but it is not the end of the story. Look at what you do have and give it to the Lord, then take a moment to organize. What actually needs to be done today? Maybe instead of trying to do twenty things, you only need to focus on three. Jesus paused and brought structure before the miracle.

Finally, Jesus took the loaves and the fish, looked up to heaven, and blessed them. He gave thanks for what was already in His hands.

That is a reminder for us to thank God for what we do have and trust Him to make it enough.

Matthew 14:20 says, “They all ate and were satisfied, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.”

Because the disciples were obedient in giving what they had to Jesus, it became more than enough.

If you are in a season where you feel like what you have is not enough, I want to encourage you to give it to Jesus.

He will make it enough.

Posted on by jwlozano

A Year of Yes

Listen to this blog post on my podcast Seeking God, Loving Others.

I recently watched the movie “Yes Day” with my kids. I was hesitant to watch it because I didn’t want them getting any ideas! The premise of the movie is that for one day the parents agree to say yes to everything their children ask. The parents set a few rules about how much money could be spent and a distance they could travel, but other than that the answer had to be yes.

The morning of the Yes Day, the kids enter the room with a poster board containing their 5 Big Asks that were to be revealed later. And the movie continues with a lot of foolishness and falls and family fun ending with a good lesson and maybe a tear or two shed. As I was watching this movie, I began to wonder if this is how we sometimes approach God.

We want a YES DAY from Him. And not just a YES DAY, but a YES LIFE. We want every request answered the way we want it and within our timeframe. I have a very active imagination so I imagine myself entering heaven with a bright green poster board, approaching God’s throne: “Here are my Big Asks for you, Lord. I want more money than I know what to do with. I want my kids to be smart and talented and get into a good college. I want my business to be booming! I want my marriage to be picture perfect. And can you please keep me healthy despite the trash I continue to consume everyday? Oh and I ask this in Jesus’ name, so now you have to do it.”

I don’t think any of us would really approach God like this. At least I hope not! But I wonder if he ever feels like we do? As a parent, there are times when I do. I have actually told my kids “Do not ask me for anything for the rest of the night!”. I don’t think God would say that; he’s far more patient than I am!

But as I thought more about this, I began to wonder what would happen if we gave a YES DAY to God? What if whatever Big Asks God had for us, we did them. What if when we saw the homeless person and felt the pull to buy them dinner, we did it? What if we prayed for the cashier at Walmart that is clearly having a bad day?

In September 2015, I was at a conference hosted by my church called “Say Yes”. If you haven’t been to a Women’s Conference, I highly recommend you try one out. It’s on my to do list for this year. But during the praise and worship, I clearly heard the voice of God tell me, specifically, He needed me to say yes. I can’t explain it but I could feel that whatever I would be saying yes to was going to be big.

Three months later, my husband asked if I would be interested in moving across the country to his hometown. I already knew the answer. I knew this was what God was telling me to say yes to. A few months after moving, my father in law/pastor asked me to start a Women’s Ministry at the church. I was terrified but I said yes.

I’m reminded of another woman in the Bible who knew what it was like to say yes. Mary, the mother of our Savior, was approached by an angel of the Lord at a very inconvenient time. She was preparing for her wedding to a carpenter and I’m sure she wasn’t expecting this interruption. But what began as an interruption became a life changing invitation.

Mary had questions. Oftentimes when we’re asked to do something for God we will have questions. Google has spoiled us! We can get the answer to any question in a matter of seconds. How tall is Jennifer Aniston? (She’s 5’5″, I know you wanted to know!) Thankfully, God is gracious and doesn’t want us in the dark. We don’t always get the full details but there are times when God tells us exactly what to do.

In the first chapter of Luke, Mary asks the angel how could she become the mother of the Messiah since she is a virgin. The angel tells her “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35).

Then Mary gave the answer I believe God desires from all of his children. “I am the Lord’s servant” (Luke 1:38). Now I don’t know anyone with a servant nor have I met a servant, but I do know that servants serve. Servants respond to the call of their master with yes.

One of our greatest examples in scriptures, the apostle Paul, who wrote almost half of the New Testament, opened many of his letters introducing himself as a “servant of Jesus Christ” (See Romans, Philippians, and Titus). And Paul was next level! He started churches, taught people how to live a God-centered life, proclaimed the gospel to the Gentiles, all this while being imprisoned, shipwrecked and victim to an occasional beating for doing these things to further the kingdom!

But like Mary, Paul knew the benefit of being a servant of God. They both knew that obedience was better than sacrifice. Servants say yes. Servants seek to please their master. Jesus himself came to serve. Matthew 20:28 says, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

We don’t even have to give our lives for many, only to one. But I won’t lie to you. It’s becoming increasingly harder to say yes to the things of God. There are so many distractions that even 25 years ago weren’t an issue. We have to be even more deliberate about how we spend our time so we can give God our best yes.

Next week, I’ll continue this line of thinking with “Being Distracted from a Year of Yes”. There are things that the enemy uses, and not all of them are bad, that can cause us to miss out on the opportunity to give God a Year of Yes.

Posted on by jwlozano

If You Love It, You’ll Do It

New Podcast Episode at Seeking God, Loving Others!!

“If you love me, keep my commands” -JESUS

It’s that simple. If you love something you do it. No one has to force us to binge our favorite show or nag us to eat our favorite dessert. I’ve never begged my son to play is favorite video game or pleaded with my daughter to color with me. In fact, it takes very little persuasion for us to do the things we love.

I recently completed a 18 mile run for my marathon training. To my surprise, it went really well. I had been having some setbacks in my training, so running this distance at such great ease was very reassuring for completing the 26.2 miles I have awaiting me in a few days.

I posted my run on Facebook and a few people later told me they couldn’t believe I ran that far. “I could ever do that!” was also a common phrase. I remember when I first started running, I felt the same. A marathon? NEVER! But then again, I hadn’t fallen in love with running yet.

Almost 4 years into my running, I can truly say I love running. I love running in the heat or the cold. I love running fast and slow. I love running here and there, I love running everywhere! Sorry for getting Dr. Seuss on you, but it’s true. I now love running. t is no longer a struggle to put on my shoes and get out the door, no matter the distance.

When you love something, it’s not a chore. When Jesus told us in John 14:15 that we show our love for him by doing what he says, I believe he had this idea in mind. That the things we love are easy to do. We don’t need to be better about reading our Bible more; we need to fall in love with the Bible. We don’t need to try to make it to church more than once a month; we need to fall in love with the church, who Jesus calls his bride. We don’t need to be better about giving the tithe to God; we need to fall in love with obeying his word and blessing his kingdom.

We sometimes overcommit ourselves and schedules things we don’t even love. Or even like for that matter. I heard something that I will clean up a bit for this clean blog: IF IT’S NOT A “HECK YES”, IT’S A “NO”! I learned a few years ago that life is too short to fill with obligations and undesired commitments (I’m not talking about responsibilities like work, parenting, etc. if you don’t love these things, you can’t quit, you just need to ask God to help you make some adjustments elsewhere!).

When we fill our lives with the things we love, life doesn’t seem as demanding. Memories can be made because we aren’t just rushing to the next thing. We make time for what matters most. This week, commit to doing something you love, or would like to fall in love with, even if it’s just for 5 minutes. Read you Bible, read a book, color a picture, do a puzzle, play a game with your kids. You don’t need more time, you need to love it more!